Mystery
by Torishu
Summary: An ANBU. Finally. NOW she could finally feel worth something, but. No one can know.... Eventual KAKASAKU
1. Chapter 1

The kunoichi softly hissed in pain as the needle dragged along the smooth skin of her shoulder, guided by the gentle hand of a dark haired man. The dark trail following the needle formed a black swirl of which only the most elite shinobi of Konohagure were scarred with.

**ANBU**

She eyed her newly dyed tresses thoughtfully as the last touches to the mark were made. The dark inky color was quite different from her normal color, but it was an intriguing kind of different... One she liked. It made her feel more ninja-like, and now she wouldn't have to tie one of those damned scarves around her head in order to keep it from revealing her cover while she was on missions.

The tattooist placed an ice pack on her shoulder, and the icy cold spread throughout her skin. She thanked him and stood; grabbing the duffel bag full of newly issued gear which had been sitting at her feet.

A sense of pride washed over her as she stepped through the door of the building, leading her to the cool night air.

She hadn't told a single soul she was trying for ANBU, with the exception of Tsunade, and she preferred to keep it under wraps for now.

Darkness swallowed her as she darted home quickly, using the last bits of the chakra she had left from her test, so no one would recognize her.

Other than a few other scratches, and a deep cut across her abdomen, she was not seriously injured. She'd done pretty well for herself. The trials she had been put through last night caused her hair to curl as she thought of them, but it had all been worth it. She had made it to her very own goal, and it had only taken her twenty-three years.

She yawned as she shuffled into the kitchen. She was thankful that her overly long sweatpants protected her bare feet from the cold linoleum of the floor. She sighed to herself as she saw that her refrigerator was bare with the exception of a carton of milk and some old lunch meat.

Reaching into the refrigerator, she brought the carton of milk to her nose, and scrunched up her nose as the scent reached her nostrils.

Maybe she'd eat out... she hadn't had Ichiraku's for a while... Hopefully Naruto wouldn't be there.

A knock startled her out of the reverie that the thought of ramen had produced.

She shuffled over to the door, pulling the sleeves of her T-shirt over her tattoo as she stepped across the floor. But when she opened it, no one was there. Confusedly, she looked to her feet to see an envelope laying there. Whoever it was, had tried to shove it beneath her door, successfully. She had just failed to notice it laying on the carpet.

She shut the door and began ripping it open as she made her way to her bedroom. She scanned it quickly and A few sentences stood out.

"You have been assigned to ANBU mission_ # 67778234_. Be in full uniform at the headquarters by 10:05 P.M. tonight," and then, scrawled in Tsunade's own hand... "You, and your two teammates will keep your identities hidden from each other. I've placed you on a team with two more experienced ANBU, since this is your first mission. Sorry to throw this on you so soon, but you're an ANBU now, so deal with it."

Sighing, she swept her hair back into a ponytail and searched out her clothing. Why would Tsunade assign her a mission the very next day after her exam?

Slipping into a pair of jeans, and a shirt with three quarter length sleeves, she began to think to herself.

Maybe she was just being selfish, wanting to keep her own identity hidden.

Maybe?

After all, it could keep her and her teammates from working together properly, and that could throw off the mission's success rate.

She just pushed aside that thought and slid her feet into her lime green flip flops. As she stepped out into the Konoha afternoon, a breeze passed by her, raising goosebumps on her arms.

She shuffled down the dirt road to the familiar ramen restaurant that was about two miles away.

"Sakura-chan!" A robust shinobi ran to her, a grin plastered across his face.

That was just her luck. She had specifically asked fate not to bring them together, and yet... fate chose him specifically to bother her... She sighed, closing her eyes and counting backwards from ten in order to steady her nerves, which were already in bad shape from his voice. It wasn't as if she hated him or anything, he was just annoying sometimes, and today she wanted to relax. At least until her mission.

He would be asking questions.

"Sakura-chan? What did you DO to your beautiful hair?" He asked, his cerculine eyes wide with shock." From pink to black?"

Ten wouldn't even be remotely close to enough.

"I wanted a change." She said, her eye twitching.

"Why?" He asked oblivious, taking a handful of it and eyeing it. He'd always loved her hair. It was one of a kind, or at least the only one he'd ever seen. He'd been on the verge of tears back when she'd chopped off a few good inches at the chuunin exams. But now... It wasn't even pink anymore. This was going to be hard to accept.

She gritted her teeth as he began following her into town, matching her pace step-by-step. "Are you EVER gonna let it go pink again?"

One-hundred... ninety-nine... ninety-eight...

* * *

Another story...

Read and review!

Thanks

Trishy


	2. Chapter 2

She stepped gingerly into the large circular room being used for mission # 67778234. Her eyes, now brownish with her contacts, opened wide to see through the eye slits of her mask; the mixed colors of black and silver scattered across the room. There were about fifteen shinobi in the room, all dressed in the standard ANBU uniform.

Fifteen?

Hadn't she been told that there was only going to be two other people?

"Ah!" the Hokage said, stepping in front of her. "We've had a change of plans, the other mission can wait until you return from this one. It's a simple mission, so I assigned you to it. You were coming anyway, and maybe it will give you a chance to get used to your fellow ANBU." Tsunade said hurriedly. "Take a seat, I'll explain everything." And with that she quickly walked away.

She didn't see a single familiar looking person in the room. Although... it might have been because they were all wearing masks. One couldn't be judged from hair color and body stature alone.

"Ahem." Tsunade said loudly in the front of the room, a signal for them all to shut their mouths. The room quickly hushed, and Sakura slid slowly down into a cold metal chair next to a brunette male shinobi." This mission was put together in a hurry, all I basically ask that you all do a sweep of the border, check the situations in the towns along the way, and such. I have asked fifteen of you because, well, I want a very thorough update." She said, in a rather humorous tone. Sakura had studied with that woman for a few years, and knew her better than most. "It should take a maximum of a week. I want this done quickly, but thoroughly." She repeated, trying to get the point across. With her tone of voice Sakura could tell that someone had reported trouble in some of these towns. Although, she could not understand why she would need the ANBU to do it. "You're dismissed." The Hokage said, with a quick wave of her hand.

Sakura stood. Here she was, in a room full of people, none of which she knew, and apparently, she was supposed to spend a full week with them.

Standing, she moved with the majority of the crowd towards the door, and joined them all in a mass exodus towards the North gate.

She relaxed slightly as the soft Konoha breeze rushed through her hair as she leapt from tree to tree. This was what she loved, above all things. She'd spent about a year and a half abroad, and with that experience, learned to appreciate Konoha for it's natural beauty. That time away must have been when she'd started to be annoyed by her teammates again, more than when she'd been younger even. She was appreciative of them being there for her, but sometimes more than not, she was annoyed at their prying. Not to mention the constant bickering.

"Hi. You're the new girl, right?"

Sakura returned from her thoughts to see a male shinobi leaping in sync with her.

"Uh ... yeah." She said in a voice different from her own. Sasuke was an ANBU and she didn't want him recognizing her voice... "How'd you know?"

"There aren't many female ANBU."

Sakura looked around and saw that this was indeed true, at least on this mission. There were only two other women. At least, as far as she could tell.

"Well, every one calls me Hiroki. It's a fake name, but ... that's what I'm called in ANBU." The man called Hiroki said, sounding a bit amused.

"Oh... Well, Hi." She said a bit awkwardly.

Of course she'd have to use a fake name! Why didn't she think of that before!

"Didn't make up a name yet, did you?" He asked, noticing her lack of speaking.

"Heh. No. Ummmm... Achika..?" She said, saying a name that she'd liked since her childhood days.

"Good choice. Nice to meet you Achika. Listen, in ANBU it becomes quite lonely when you don't make any friends, believe me, I remember. So, I figured that I'd introduce myself to you and make it a bit easier for you."

"Thanks... "

"No problem. So if you'd follow me, I'll introduce you to some people." He said, darting to their left.

Sakura reluctantly followed him. Truthfully, she was thankful that someone had spoken to her first, because she didn't think that she could make it through this without someone to talk to.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Sakura looked around at the people sitting near her. They were talking before making camp.

Beside her, a woman sat talking into her ear. She reminded Sakura vaguely of Ino. The woman's name was Takako. As she talked, her dark, shoulder length, green tresses swung with the soft breeze. Sakura had found out after being introduced, that Takako was Hiroki's wife.

Next to Takako was Hiroki, who was speaking with the man sitting on a log across from him, named Kiba.

Although their names were the same, the shinobi Sakura knew of that name was nothing like this ANBU. His silvery hair flowed out behind his mask, reminding her of the masks with fake hair connected at the top. He was also very toned, she knew this because at the moment he had his shirt off revealing his chest. Sakura, noticing this decided that she would have to make sure to flirt with him a bit before this was over...

She shook her head. She'd been around Ino way too long.

And beside Kiba, there was a silent ANBU with deep black hair, (like her own) who was nodding in agreement with whatever the other men were talking about. His name was Tatsuya, and oddly enough, he seemed to only be around thirteen years old.

Sakura thought back to when she'd been thirteen. Foolish as she had been, she hadn't really committed herself to her shinobi talents until late in her twelfth year.

"I'm so glad there's another woman on this mission! Well, there is Toki, but she's really rather ... stern." Takako said beside her, practically glowing with joy.

"I don't understand why here aren't more kunoichi..." Sakura said wonderingly.

"Well, most just want to have a family and let their husband's do all the work. Me? I couldn't stand doing that. I'd rather be beside my husband in battle, and every once in a while I even get a chance to save his ass. Speaking of which..." She trailed off, leaning over to Hiroki she asked, "Don't you think we should set up camp? Then we can take off these damned masks." Sakura noticed that she'd been fingering her own mask as she'd been thinking. Sakura also realized that Takako was referring to putting on their small cloth masks, similar to her old sensei's, that they'd been supplied with.

Sakura sighed as she realized that she'd have to share a tent with someone. Unfortunately for her, it wouldn't be Takako, she'd be in the same tent with Hiroki. Sakura was a little saddened by this, she'd actually taken a liking to her.

So that left either Kiba or Tatsuya.

XXXXXXX

Sakura stepped out of the tent to see that everyone except Kiba had taken off their masks. She felt a bit of disappointment, but also found his mysteriousness mildly attractive.

Takako had pretty deep brown eyes, to match her own contacted ones.

Hiroki had dark blue eyes, and Tatsuya had brown eyes as well.

She yawned softly as she sat next to Takako, only to realize that she was too deep in conversation with Hiroki.

"I hope your not too disappointed that you have to share a tent with me." A low masculine voice said to her left.

"Oh, no. Of course not." She said, a deep magenta covering her cheeks as she turned to face Kiba. "I trust you, you're an ANBU after all." The fact that he had a drawing aura had nothing to do with it. Of course not.

"I don't advise that. Many ANBU aren't trustworthy in that respect."

"Oh ... okay."

"Most of the people on this mission aren't too bad about that though. The only reason we didn't put you in the same tent as Tatsuya is... well ... he never talks and quite frankly, we don't know what he's capable of. He seems like a decent person though." He said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Oh." She said, understanding a bit. Then, feeling a little more able to ask questions now that he'd spoken to her, she asked, "May I ask, how come you didn't take your mask off?"

"I didn't want to." He said simply.

"Why not?" She asked, as her flirtation skills started kicking in.

"How old are you?" He asked back.

"Twenty-nine." She lied. In realization she was only twenty-four, but that was only a few years off.

"You ask a hell of a lot of questions for someone who's twenty-nine..."

"Please? Can't you just wear a mouth cover?" She asked sweetly. Flirting was her specialty after spending her teenage years with Ino.

"Someday." He said, indicating her to leave it at that.

"Before this mission's over?"

He studied her for a second, or at least she thought so because his mask was facing her and he was silent, "Possibly."

Sakura smirked slightly.

This was working.

What? She asked herself. She had a right to act a bit more open from her normal self, her identity was hidden anyway, so she had nothing at stake with her outwardness.


	3. Chapter 3

A yawn escaped her lips as she stretched the tenseness from the muscles in her shoulders and back. Her eyes widened in fright as she realized that she'd pulled the dark cloth from her face in her sleep. She was thankful to see that Kiba was still sleeping, and she tiptoed outside as she yanked it back on. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she surveyed the area. It was barely dawn, and the sun was barely peeking over the horizon. About three other nin were awake, but they were minding their own buisness, so she didn't mind.

Yawning again, she shuffled over towards a tall tree she'd spotted and stealthily climbed. She selected a branch towards the highest part of the tree, where she could watch the sunise and still not fall. She obliged to the temptation of sliding off her mask for a while, she was facing away from the camp, and breathe in the clean scent of the morning air. She was still wearing her tight black clothing from the day before, she'd been to lazy to slip out of them the previous night.

She quickly pulled her mask back over her lower face as the tree began to shake slightly, indicating that someone was climing up towards her. Sure enough, seconds later, Kiba appeared infront of her.

"Mind if I join you?"

"If you take off that mask." She said as she swung her legs over to make room for him. She'd been amazed that he'd slept with the mask on. When she'd bothered him more about it last night he'd only said that, 'there are missions when a ANBU has to take his mask off, and that was the only time he would take it off.' In her opinion, he would take it off soon, because there was no way that everywhere he went he would keep it on, it was impossible.

"We already talked about this..." He said sitting down.

"Fine." She sighed, too tired to argue. "I didn't wake you did I?"

"Yes you did, actually. It's alright though, I usually wake up right around this time anyway." He explained after seeing her eye brows furrow.

Sakura smiled guiltily beneath her mask.

Her guilt was soon forgotten as the awe inspiring sunrise captured her attention. The pastels littering the morning sky were of such beauty, no one could describe them fairly. Pinks, purples, blues, and shades of orange streaked the sky. This was the only true beauty, in Sakura's point of view.

Next to her, the male ANBU was quite interested in what he was seeing also. But unlike her, his eyes were not glued to the horizon, but on the kunoichi's expression, or what he could see of it anyway. Her deep brown eyes were glittering in an almost... mischevious way. It was amazingly attractive. Noting this, he scrutinized her appearance.

Her hair was a deep black color, clearly it had been dyed, and was grown out just barely past her shoulders. It was still messy from her night's sleep, and a few strands stood out at odd angles. Her face was a nice shape, one he'd seen on only a few kunoichi in his lifetime. Her body was shapely, but not so much that it would get in the way of her training. His eyes returned to her still sparkling eyes, and then looked out into the now very faint purples blending into the usual light blue color.

"I love sunrises and sunsets." She said softly, her attention returning to her company. She stretched as a yawn escaped her lips and let herself fall from the tree as she leaned backwards, landing perfectly on her feet, like a feline.

"So I've noticed." He said, appearing beside her.

"Huh..." She said, obviously grinning beneath her mask. "I hadn't realized so much time had passed."

His eyes scanned the perimeter. All ANBU were awake and either eating, packing, or talking. He turned on his heel, heading towards their camp. He waved as he walked away, "I got it. You can go eat."

Watching him walk ahead of her, she felt an overall gratefullness that she'd been paired up with Kiba instead of Tatsuya. He was an interesting ANBU, and she found that she was overjoyed by the fact that they seemed to be getting along famously. Guilt encompassed her as she took note that she had only taken notice in him for his looks, when he was such a great person.

He was sweet, in his own way, and she felt like she had wronged him.

Feeling guilty, she made her way over to her fellow ANBU who had a meal ready for her.

XXXXXXXXX

The mission ended quickly, in a mere week. They'd discovered quite a few interesting goings-on in the border cities. If they hadn't discovered them, something serious might have resulted at a later time. But there had been nothing too severe, and they returned within a weeks time.

Sakura waved a 'goodbye' to her new-found friends and quickly headed home. It was deep into the night, and if she guessed correctly, it was around one in the morning. She pushed her way through her front door and into her livingroom. Without a second thought, she locked the door and peeled off her mask. Her first breath of fresh air was undescribable, to put it simply, ... it was amazing. Throwing The mask onto the couch, she peeled off her shoes, black pants, shinguards, vest, gloves, and shirt. Soon, she was sitting in her bathtub, soaking herself. The dirt and grime that had piled onto her skin over the past week seemed to disappear into the cool water.

She may be an ANBU, but she was a woman too.

She yawned and pushed away the urgent thoughts of how she was to begin the previously assigned mission tomorrow...

* * *

BWahahahahahaha! I am in a very good mood, thank you very much. I'm sorry this chapter is so short, but it's all I could retrieve from my over sleep-deprived head. Yes. I know I should be studying for exams, but ah... the sweet temptation of fanfiction. Oh well, I don't have to suffer until tomorrow, when I wake up early so that I can drill each and every stoopide fact into my head.

Yay.

I hope you enjoyed...

Review! PLEASE?


	4. Chapter 4

Sakura yawned noisily beneath her porcelain mask as she sleepily stumbled towards the large building that was known as the ANBU headquarters. Reflecting on how cold the porcelain was against her face, she lazily stepped past the shinobi guarding the entrance, and shuffled down the plain, white hallway towards room 37. She shivered. Her footsteps echoed down the hallway as she took each step. It was eerie how much it reminded her of walking throughout the sterile white hallways in the ever familiar Konoha Hospital. Finally, she came to room 37, and pushed the door open as slowly as possible.

The wooden door swung open, and the figure of Tsunade sitting at her large mahogany desk came into view. The Hokage ushered her in with a careless wave of her hand, and a facial expression that Sakura knew all too well. She couldn't understand why her ex-sensei was giving her this look... Her former sensei was up to something and apparently, it had to do with her. She hated it when Tsunade entertained herself with _her _life...

She shivered slightly as she sunk into the cushion of one of the four chairs in front of the Hokage's large desk. She raised her masked bright green eyes to meet soft brown ones, those of Tsunade. She eyed her for a few seconds, Tsunade all the while wearing a mischievous smirk. Her gaze broke as a figure quietly stepped into the room. That is to say, there were two figures, but Sakura only noticed one.

Beneath her mask, Sakura's mouth was hanging wide open in shock as the two men took the two seats to her left. The ANBU closest to her nodded her way in recognition, and the other faced the Hokage attentively. The familiar man beside her faced her for a few moments, Sakura all the while feeling, even through the barrier covering her face, the piercing gaze of Kiba's boring through her mask.

"Listen up." Tsunade said, catching their attention. Sakura felt her heart sink lower in her chest as the attentiveness disappeared and they both looked to the Hokage suddenly, tearing their gaze from each other. "I assigned you three to this mission because I want S- ... her." She paused, almost saying her name, but instead just nodded in her direction. "To go on a mission with some older, more seasoned ANBU. I hope that you will treat her with the utmost respect. " She paused again, glaring in the direction of the brunette ANBU beside Kiba. "And no doubt, you two know who each of you really is, but since she would rather not reveal her name at the moment, I'd rather you address each other with aliases until she feels inclined to let you know her true name." Sakura felt her heart drop even lower when she saw that the Hokage was again, smiling that same 'I'm-up-to-something-you-better-watch-out' look. She watched as the sannin reached out and handed Kiba a scroll. "I'm putting you in charge, now, get out of my sight." She said, waving her hand again. They stood, and stepped lightly towards the door. "Oh, and I would like you to keep a kind of ... journal of the happenings during this mission."

XXXXXXXXX

"Ah, so we meet again... Achika." Kiba said, placing a hand on her left shoulder familiarly. Sakura looked up at him smilingly, not that he could see it, but the gesture was all the same.

"So... who is your friend Ka-" Another masculine voice began, his voice too smooth for Sakura's comfort. The other ANBU paused as he looked to Kiba questioningly. "What should I call you?"

"Kiba."

"All right. Who's your beautiful friend Kiba?" The ANBU practically slid to her other side, wrapping his arm around her waist in an almost too friendly way. Sakura turned her gaze to his masked one slowly, scowling. She had a pretty accurate guess of who the shinobi was, or a few names of who he could be anyway. She glared at him through the slits used for vision on her mask for several seconds, until he slowly stepped away, sensing her anger.

"Already laid a claim on this one?" He asked, glancing up to his friend, the smoothness gone from his voice and demeanor. Seconds later he felt a fist abruptly collide with his stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs.

"No one 'claims' me." She growled, turning on her heel and stepping through the city's gate. Secretly, she was grinning to herself in satisfaction. He had to have known that she was going to hit him, and obviously had been expecting her to hit him with a weak punch. She had risked exposing her identity, using just a bit of the extreme human strength she'd learned from Tsunade to take out her anger on the ANBU.

"Damn." She heard him say behind her, "OK, I apologize." He said, sounding as if he respected her a bit more, although a bit wary of her talents. "My name is... Kei." He said, speeding up to walk beside her. She glanced to her right to see Kiba following between them. "I hope you'll forgive me and tell me your name."

She sighed and stopped in her tracks. Without a word she turned to face Kiba for a few silent seconds. "... Is he always like this?" She asked after several seconds. After seeing him nod in reply, she turned to face Kei. "Achika."

"Okay Achika, do you agree with me that we should wait to leave until we've at least read the scroll?" She stopped in her tracks at his statement, hearing the cruel tone behind it. Blushing intensely beneath her mask, she slowly walked over to Kiba.

Beneath her breath she muttered, "Is he trying to make a fool of me?" She waited for Kiba to reply, but he only opened the scroll for her to see. She scanned the page thoroughly, reading every bit of important information written. _'Not too important a mission, just get the pendant, (pictured) from (Also pictured) rouge nin. It's worth millions, Blah Blah Blah. Assassinate the nin, he's wanted in a few shinobi countries for murders in the non-shinobi, and shinobi villages. Blah Blah Blah, assassinate or if possible apprehend the thief and bring him back to Konoha for a little fun.'_ Sakura paused. She knew what that meant. Interrogation, or in other words, Morino Ibiki was about to get a new client.

She glanced up to see Kei and Kiba reading the scrawl of Tsunade's handwriting too. She waited for them to finish reading and then she asked, a bit offended "This isn't really an ANBU ranked mission is it?"

Kiba formed the hand seals and the scroll burst into flames. "On the contrary, if he's wanted in several shinobi countries, he must be somewhat talented." Rolling up the scroll, he turned to Kei and asked in a pleasant tone of voice, "Don't you agree?"

Kei paused. Then after a few seconds he stated rawly, "No, he's got to be more than talented, he's got to be skilled."

Silence ensued until Kiba pointedly suggested, "We should get going."

They all nodded and followed his lead in the direction of the rogue countries. However, after a bit, he was kind enough to slow down a bit and wait for Sakura as Kei scouted ahead. They leapt through the trees and conversed quietly, laughing at the coincidence that they were both to end up on this mission together..

XXXXXXXXXX

Later they stopped to eat a small lunch, and Sakura was surprised to find that Kiba sat beside her. He offered her some of his potato chips, and she accepted gratefully, although she was reminded faintly of lunch time at school. When Kei, who was sitting directly in front of them, stood to get something from his pack, Kiba leaned over and said, "To answer your earlier question, he's not always so annoying, but you have to get used to him. He will try to make a fool out of you if you do so to him. A Shinobi's pride..." He trailed off, shoving a potato chip beneath his porcelain mask and into his mouth.

Sakura sighed, resisting the urge to laugh at the comical scene her friend made while eating. He was sitting beside her, his back to the same, extremely large, tree trunk that she was leaning against. Every few seconds or so he would reach his hand through the bottom of his mask and shove the food into his mouth. Sighing again, she laid her head back against the tree, and sunk down slowly until she was lying flat on the ground, looking at the clear bright blue sky for a few seconds before her eyes drifted closed.

XXXXXXXXXX

She awoke to Kiba leaning over her, saying her name softly. She blinked her eyes slowly, convinced that she was dreaming. When he didn't disappear, she impulsively reached her arms up, around his neck, pulling him towards her. He steadily came closer, and closer, until that other familiar voice coming from behind them said with a bit of humor evident in his voice, "I knew it..."

She abruptly let her arms drop, feeling a red hot heat appearing on her cheeks, signaling that she was yet again blushing beneath her mask. Apparently, she hadn't been dreaming... Her cheeks began to burn even more when Kiba didn't move from his former position that she'd so generously helped him into. Holding her breath, she looked directly at him, still unable to see his eyes despite their close proximity. He was probably laughing at her beneath that mask of his. Neither of them spoke or moved, and probably wouldn't have if Kei hadn't started laughing rather loudly behind them. In half of a second Kiba was standing beside the brunette shinobi, the later rubbing his chest as if someone had just hit him.

* * *

Fweeeeee. So VERY much fun. Ok. So I tried to make a little 'Moment' Happen. Did it work? I don't know, this is getting quite confusing with the masks... I guess I'll have to trash 'em soon.

Wow. So ... yes. I hope you keep reading and reviewing, it makes me very happy when you do. Very Very VERY happy. But not disturbingly happy because ... well ... that would be disturbing.

I want to thank all of you who continuously review. It has made me feel very special and ... as I said, has kept me going. Yay!

Hugglesness

Thanks so much!

Review More please?


	5. Chapter 5

Just before they arrived in the first rogue country, they stopped at a small village close by in order to acquire some better attire. When in the rogue counties, if a shinobi was sighted, news spread like wildfire and everyone was on guard, unless it was a missing nin. So that meant that they were going to have to take on the appearance of wanted nin. According to Kiba's orders, they were to spend the night in a small inn so they would have all night to get thoroughly un-shinobi-looking.

Sakura collapsed onto the one, and only, bed. The mattress was too firm, and made her back hurt but she'd bear it. It had to be better than the floor. Thankfully, she dug in her bag and pulled out a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. She changed hurriedly and then ran back to protect the bed she'd claimed. She'd been left in charge of getting a room, and then they'd come and find her after they were done with their duties. They should have been arriving any minute now. The silence of the room was eerie, so she reached for the T.V. remote. Both of her other teammates had gone for supplies, clothes, and other things they'd need, so their company was lost to her at the moment. She flipped through the stations, looking for something interesting. There was nothing on, there hardly ever was anymore. With a sigh she turned it off, and lay back onto the bed. Almost immediately, the memory of her embarrassing actions from earlier that day renewed themselves in her mind. There was no way she was going to let that happen again. He obviously had been embarrassed. With these thoughts, the aspect of finally getting to see Kiba's face came to mind.

A grin spread across her lips.

Click.

Sakura jumped up into sitting position to see Kiba and Kei walked through the wooden door, carrying three large paper bags. She stood to offer her help, and took a bag from Kiba. She set her bag on the table along with the rest and looked to Kiba. "Sorry I had to get such a small room. This was pretty much the only inn in this town. I guess the inn keepers are worried about illegal nin boarding with them." She said, shrugging. He nodded and took a seat at the small table. "What'd you get?" She asked, curious.

He reached into the bag and pulled out a pile of odd clothing, she could see many shades of brown and blue. He threw it on the dresser behind him. Then he pulled out a few boxes, some food, and water. Sakura eyed him suspiciously. He saw her (She had her mask off, and was only wearing the cloth.) and said, "You have to get your own clothes, I have no idea what size you wear. Here." He said, forcing a wad of cash into her hand. "Spend it all, and know that we might have to use your looks to our advantage."

She nodded understandingly, although blushing. He'd just called her pretty! Although, she hoped against hope that she wouldn't have to seduce the target. Then again, that was the life of a kunoichi. "Okay." She mumbled as she silently walked out of the door. As she stepped down the stairs, she felt her stomach lurch. She'd left her bag open on the bed. Her bag, the one holding underwear, bras, and other feminine things. She froze. While she debated on whether or not she should go get it, the innkeeper stopped on the stairs below her. He looked her over and asked, "Somethin' wrong sweetie?"

She snapped out of her thoughts and smiled at him, although he could not see it. "No, I just remembered something. Sorry." She said, moving aside to let him pass her. The stairway was too narrow for two people to pass at once. She couldn't help but silently thank God that she had quick reflexes.

She decided that it would be all right. A grown man would know better than to go through a woman's bag... right? She shrugged it off. Before she stepped outside, she decided that it would be okay to remove her mask for a while, no one would see her. Both members of her team were currently inside that room. Besides, she mused, she looked totally different without her mask, and with the contacts. She pulled it off, shoved it into her pocket, and headed to a small store she'd seen when she'd first come into town. She found it without any trouble, and when inside quietly.

As she stepped inside the small building, she felt what must have been every eye in the store look her way. Although it wasn't many, it still made her nervous. She made right for the woman's clothing. However, she was intercepted by a surprisingly pretty, smiling woman.

"Hello, may I help you?" She asked pleasantly. Apparently, she worked there.

"No thank you." Sakura muttered, eyeing the clothing rack behind the woman As she walked back to the cash register, Sakura found herself digging through the clothing almost immediately. She began picking through the collection on the clothing racks.

After several minutes, she ended up throwing three shirts, a pair of pants, a pair of shorts, and a jacket over her arm to take to the dressing room. First she tried on a mesh tank top. After eying herself in the mirror for several minutes, she decided she liked it. It was spaghetti strapped, mostly see through, and showed most of her stomach. That would catch the eye if needed, she thought with a smirk.

By the time she was through, she was keeping only the mesh top, a green tank top, a long sleeved mesh shirt, the pair of cargo pants, a skirt, and the jacket. As she browsed through the rest of the store, she picked out a few things to spend the remaining money on. After all, she had been ordered to spend it all.

She grabbed a few ponytail holders, a green bra to wear beneath the mesh top, for some reason she'd taken a liking to green; some black nail polish, some makeup, a few accessories, and a hair brush. That took the rest of her cash, leaving only ten dollars. She'd keep that for later.

The same woman was at the counter. She was friendly, and seemed eager to make friends. '_She must not get many people in here._' Sakura thought sadly. She would die with no one to talk to. Although, she could do without the ignorant ones..."Would you like anything else?"

"Oh, no thank you." She said with a smile.

"You're a shinobi, aren't you?"

Sakura did a double take. How'd she figure that one out? "Yes, how did you know?"

"I can just tell. I grew up around them. My dad was a shinobi... he was killed two years ago." She said, handing her the bag.

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"Well, I have respect for you, I truly do. I tried to become a kunoichi myself, but I just wasn't cut out for it. My name is Tobohishi Akiko. If you ever need anywhere to stay, on your way home perhaps, I live upstairs; you and your comrades can sleep up there." She said smiling brightly.

"Thank you..." Sakura mumbled, a little taken aback at how open she was. "My name is Sa- Achika."

She ended up spending two hours there, just talking with her.

XXXXXXXXXx

When she arrived back at their room, with her mask applied, she was surprised to see Genma sitting at the table, eating. She threw her bag onto the bed and looked at him questioningly. Ignoring her surprise, he held out a cup of instant ramen for her. "Here, this is for you."

"Thanks... why'd you take off your mask?" She asked, taking it from him. He chewed the food inside of his mouth, and then looked her in the eyes.

"There's really no point to it. We're all going to have to take them off anyway. Besides, it's a damn hassle to work around it while you're eating." He said, watching her maneuver around her mask. "So call me Genma now. "

"Okay Genma." She said, swallowing her ramen quickly. He eyed her for a second, and she found herself squirming around under his gaze. He made her nervous.

"So, are you gonna let a man put a face with that hot body of yours, or are you gonna let him suffer?" He asked.

Sakura sighed. Apparently, he'd forgiven her of her 'crimes' when they'd met. "I think I'll stick to the later. What about Kiba? Did he take his off?" She asked hopefully, wondering where the said man was.

"Nah, " Genma said, throwing his empty paper cup into the trash. "But if you wanna see it that bad, he's in the shower. I'm sure if you sneak in there, you'll get a little peek." He said, laughing to himself. He knew for a fact that she wasn't going to even get to the door before he sensed her intentions, that was, if she even had the guts to try.

"That's okay, I can wait." She said, standing to throw her own trash away. As she turned to face Genma, she saw Kiba walking into the room. She glanced at him.

"Shower's open, use it now. We won't have time in the morning." He said, nodding to her. She was disappointed to see that Genma had been correct; Kiba still had his mask on.

She smiled, grabbed her bag, and walked passed Genma as slowly as possible. "Oh, and if you try anything like that with me, you'll be dead." She said, smirking evilly. She knew this man's reputation, and it was one that happened to involve many many women.

XXXXXXXX

As the water poured down her back, she found her thoughts wondering. Kiba and Genma seemed to have a friendship going. That would mean that they probably hung out outside of ANBU. Unfortunately for her, she never really paid attention to who the older shinobi spent time with, unless it was with one of her friends.

She sighed. That meant that he probably wouldn't realize who she truly was, but it also meant that she'd be constantly hit on. Oh, how it would take every ounce of self control she owned not to use the strength maneuvers she'd been taught by the Hokage. Then, she'd be caught dead in her tracks.

'Fuck.' She thought as she stepped out of the shower.

She wrapped herself in her fuzzy white towel; she dug the hairbrush out of her bag and began pulling it through her hair. She'd have to re-dye it soon; it was beginning to fade slightly. She'd use the ten dollars. Even though most would only shrug and say, 'Oh well, no one will notice.' she couldn't do that. Her natural hair color was unique to her. Not to mention that it contrasted deeply with the dyed color.

Sighing to herself, she pulled on the only other bottoms she had other than her ANBU, and her new pants. It looked like she'd be sleeping in her jeans that night.

She shuffled out of the bathroom, pulling at her mask. Genma was right, it really was annoying. Genma must have seen her doing it, for he said rather loudly, "Just take the damn thing off!"

She shook her head. As she bounced onto her bed, she replied, "I'm not taking mine off until he takes his off." She said stubbornly. Kiba only ignored her and went back to digging through his bag. "Oh yeah. I was wondering, do you think I'd have time to stop and buy some hair dye in the morning? That why, I'd have some next time, I kinda forgot while I was out. I have enough money left."

Kiba nodded, and then resumed what he'd been doing.

"You know miss... _Achika_..."Genma began, putting stress on her fake name. "You're going to have to take it off once we enter the country tomorrow."

"Like I said. I do, when he does."

He laughed and said, "Damn, you're just as stubborn as he is. you're a match made in heaven. Sakura hurriedly decided that there was something she needed to get out of her bag as a blush rose to cover her clothed cheeks, and rose above her mask. She pulled out the bottle of nail polish and began painting her trimmed fingernails a satisfyingly black color.

XXXXXX

A snore was heard, and she rolled her eyes. She heard footsteps, and then a weight on the side of her bed. She hoped to any god out there that it was Genma who was snoring. "Are you awake?"

"Yeah." She replied, relieved to hear Kiba's familiarly low masculine voice.

"Good. I wanted to talk." He said softly. "Would you come on a walk with me?"

* * *

Bwah. Got rid of one mask. Two more to go. Bwah. YAY! Congrats to the reviewers who guessed that Kei was Genma. YAY! to YOU! You get a cookie! high fives

Those of you who thought it was Genma, but didn't review, BOOOO!

Reviews for this chapter? Then you'll get a cookie no matter what. Or maybe a brownie... . What kind of brownie you ask? I don't know, you'll just have to find out Cough


	6. Chapter 6

"Good. I wanted to talk." He said softly. "Would you come on a walk with me?"

"Sure." She said, her heart doing flip flops. She told it to calm down, but she kept remembering what she'd done that day. She stood, and followed his outline out the door. They stepped down the stairs, and out into the night. For some reason, there were no street lights, and it was pitch dark, except for a few dim lights. She found her mouth drop as she saw his profile. "You don't have your mask on..." She said wonderingly.

He nodded. "It doesn't matter, you can't see me, it's too dark."

She sighed. That was true.

"I've made a plan. We will locate the target, you will do your best to get as close to him as possible, and then supply us with information until we can preferably capture him. I thought I'd let you know ahead of time, so that if you don't agree, I can come up with a new plan by tomorrow."

"That's okay. I can handle that." She said, somewhat disappointed that he wanted to talk about the mission.

He turned to her, and she gasped as the light illuminated one side of his face. Her heart was tooken in that moment.

His eyes were dark, he had a long, prominent nose, and thin lips. His cheek bones were higher up, but it was attractive with his long silvery hair. It reminded her of the first time she'd seen him. Yet... he reminded her of someone vaugely.

"Listen, I also wanted to speak with you about earlier today. It was an accident, and I apologise."

"What?" She said, not really understanding. Her mind was still processing the fact that she'd seen his face.

He looked at her for a second silently. "Nevermind. Lets get back to the room."

As they both turned around in their tracks, she caught on. She felt her cheeks heat up even more. Why had he apologised? It had been her fault. "Don't say you're sorry, there's no reason to." She said quietly.

He was silent and only glanced at her. They shuffled trowards the building in silence until he spoke up. "If things are awkward between us, we should resolve things before we become active on this mission."

"What do you mean?"

"If we're distracted, then we may not be able to act in synch during battle. That could cause us to fail the mission. As much as I hate the fact, we need to talk about what happened." He explained.

"Well, I... What do you think happened?"

"... Are you only going to ask questions?"

"Okay." She said, laughing softly to herself. Somehow, that sarcastic comment had broken all of the tension she'd been feeling. "Okay." She took a deep breath. "Okay. I like you a lot, and I think that there may have been a 'moment' earlier."

Silence.

Her heart sunk.

"M-maybe it was one-sided, I'm s-sor-" She began spouting quickly, trying to cover her embarassment. However she was cut off as he stopped walking, and wrapped his arm around her. She looked up at him questioningly, but his face was shrouded in shadows.

Before she knew it, the cloth covering her lower face was gone, replaced by his lips. She surrendered to it, relieved that she hadn't just embarassed herself. Somehow, it didn't seem real. It had happened so fast, but it was what she wanted. Ever since that first day on the mission, they'd both felt a magnetic attraction between themselves. Maybe a mission wasn't the best time to talk about it, but it was too late now.

Well, if there was going to be emotions on the battlefield, this had just made it a hell of a lot worse, she thought, laughing to herself inwardly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She slept lightly that night, and before she knew it the other two occupants of the room were moving about, packing their things. She moaned, and pulled the blanket over her head, trying to blockout the light, noise, and voices.

She felt a weight on the edge of her bed, and she froze. "Wake up little lady, it's morning." A familiarly low voice said in her ear.

She moaned again, and turned away from him. She felt the weight shift closer to her head, and she felt her eye twitch. "Genma..." She said slowly, a low, menacing tone stitched through her voice, "If you come any closer, you'll be in a full-body-cast. And if you ever, ever, EVER call me little lady again, I'll castrate you myself." She smirked evilly as he got up.

"Fine." Genma growled. She heard him mumble to himself, "I swear, if she didn't have such a great body, I'd wonder if she was truly a female."

After a few minutes, she sat up, grabbed her bag, and shuffled to the bathroom. As she passed him, she looked to him and said innocently, "You know, if you keep talking shit about me, I might be tempted to castrate you anyway. Or maybe I'll tell all of my friends that when I gave you your check up, I was so very suprised that you had a serious case of an STD. I'm not sure which yet though..." She froze, maybe he hadn't heard it. She'd slipped, speaking of giving people check-ups...

Closing the door behind herself, she heard Genma curse softly to himself, mixed with an undertone of laughter. She felt her bad mood quickly turn to that of a good one as she thought of what had happened last night. No one had thought twice about it, good. Then again, maybe it wasn't going to be such a great day. It was 'Mask Off Day.' For some reason, she didn't have such a huge problem with it anymore.

Well, at least she got to put on her new clothes finally.

XXXXXXXXXX

She sighed, and nodded. "Okay. I swear I'll be right back."Genma was getting on her nerves. Kiba had disappeared before she'd left the bathroom that morning, to go get some forgotten things. In a mere second, she vanished from the doorway. She quickly rushed through the door of the same small shop, and grabbed a box of dye. The same woman sat at the counter, and smiled at her.

"Hello, I like your clothes, where'd you get them? Oh, and the mask?" She asked with a smile. Sakura smiled in return, and handed her the box. She was wearing th clothes she'd bought there yesterday. She felt oddly comfortable in the see through clothing...

"Thanks. " She said, taking the bag from her. "Listen, I'm leaving today, so I'll try to stop by on the way home."

"Oh, okay." She said with a small smile. "Please do."

"Well, I'm in kind of a rush. Bye."

XXXXXXXXX

When she arrived back in the room, Genma was again sitting at the table, but he wasn't eating this time. He turned to her and nodded in 'hello' and then resumed pulling at his clothes. He was wearing the new ones he'd bought. Black pants, and a grey shirt. She stifled a laugh.

"What?" He asked, scowling at her around his senbon. He must have carried one with him, because she knew that he hadn't had that in his mouth earlier on the mission. She continued to laugh. A flashback of her comrade at the age of fifteen, flashed through her mind. Just as Sasuke did then, Genma looked extremely horrible in an opened shirt. Well, at least this one.

"Button up your shirt."

"Well, I'm not the only one who is showing their abdomen. Look at you, I can see everything but your tits. Not that I'm complaining at the exposed skin of course.." He said, eyeing her in his usual, perverted manner. Indeed, she was showing a lot of skin. They were arriving in their target country by mid-afternoon. According to their information, they would most likely see the target as they entered the country. Probably with a lot of women. Hence her importance on this mission.

She was wearing the see-through mesh tank, with the green bra. Her black cargo pants fit comfortably on her lower hips, and as much as she kept pulling them up, the waist always fell just so it revealed the strap if her underwear. She felt like a slut, but it would catch his eye, that was for sure.

"Shut up Genma. Is Kiba not home yet?"

"Oh, he is. He's just acting like a woman, and hiding in the bathroom. He knows he has to take off his mask." Genma explained, laughing at his own joke.

"I'm not _afraid_, Genma."

She turned to see Kiba standing behind her, with his mask still in place.

"Whatever. You're going to have to take it off sometime today. I still don't know why you refuse to show your face, it's not like you're deformed or anything... Even I've only seen it on missions."

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows for a second. That didn't make sense. "But..." She said, turning to face Kiba, "I thought you two were friends..."

And then... it clicked.

Silver hair.

Hidden face.

Older than her.

A memory flashed back.

_"And no doubt, you two_Kiba and Genma_ know who each of you really is, but since she would rather not reveal her name at the moment, I'd rather you address each other with aliases." Sakura felt her heart drop even lower when she saw that the Hokage was again, smiling that same 'I'm-up-to-something-you-better-watch-out' look. _

She was going to KILL Tsunade.

"Kakashi?" It passed her lips in a fleeting whisper. How could this be?

"How'd you know?" He asked, taking off the mask.

And there he was. Hatake Kakashi, in the flesh. The man who had been her sensei in her younger years, the man who she'd become good friends with, and... _the man she loved_.


End file.
